BILL NUMBER: SJR 4	CHAPTERED  07/16/99

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER   64
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   JULY 16, 1999
	ADOPTED IN SENATE   JULY 8, 1999
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY   JUNE 14, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   JUNE 14, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   APRIL 14, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   MARCH 3, 1999

INTRODUCED BY   Senators Solis, Alpert, Figueroa, Karnette, and
Speier
   (Coauthors:  Senators Baca, Bowen, Costa, Hayden, Peace, Polanco,
and Vasconcellos)
   (Coauthors:  Assembly Members Alquist, Davis, Dutra, Gallegos,
Havice, Jackson, Knox, Kuehl, Longville, Robert Pacheco, Romero,
Scott, Shelley, Strom-Martin, Villaraigosa, Washington, Wildman,
Annestad, Ackerman, Aroner, Baldwin, Bates, Battin, Bock, Calderon,
Campbell, Cardenas, Cardoza, Corbett, Correa, Cox, Dickerson,
Ducheny, Firebaugh, Frusetta, Granlund, Hertzberg, Honda, Keeley,
Leach, Lempert, Lowenthal, Machado, Maddox, Maldonado, Margett,
Mazzoni, McClintock, Migden, Nakano, Olberg, Oller, Papan, Pescetti,
Reyes, Soto, Steinberg, Strickland, Thomson, Torlakson, Vincent,
Wayne, Wesson, Wiggins, and Zettel)

                        JANUARY 27, 1999

   Senate Joint Resolution No. 4--Relative to Human Rights.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SJR 4, Solis.  Afghan women's rights.
   This measure would request the President of the United States and
Congress to take necessary action to ensure the rights of women and
girls in Afghanistan are not systematically violated, as specified.





   WHEREAS, The legacy of war in Afghanistan has had a devastating
impact on the civilian population; and
   WHEREAS, The warring factions in Afghanistan have routinely
violated the rights of women and girls; and
   WHEREAS, There has been a marked increase in human rights
violations against women and girls since the Taliban militia seized
the City of Kabul in September 1996; and
   WHEREAS, Afghan women are now forbidden to work outside of the
home.  Prior to the Taliban takeover, women worked outside of the
home in various professions; and
   WHEREAS, Seventy percent of school teachers, 50 percent of
civilian government workers, and 40 percent of doctors in Kabul were
women; and
   WHEREAS, Afghan girls and women are prohibited from attending
schools and universities.  Before the takeover, 50 percent of the
students in Afghanistan were women; and
   WHEREAS, Afghan women are forbidden from appearing outside the
home unless accompanied by a close male relative; and
   WHEREAS, Access to health care has been denied to the majority of
Afghan women and girls.  This is a result of prohibiting male doctors
from examining women, prohibiting women doctors from practicing, and
limiting the health facilities available to women; and
   WHEREAS, Afghan women are required to be covered from head to toe
in a shroud, with only a narrow mesh opening through which to see,
when they leave their homes.  Likewise, they are not allowed to wear
shoes that make any noise when they walk; and
   WHEREAS, Homes and other buildings in which Afghan women or girls
might be present must have their windows painted so no female can be
seen from outside; and
   WHEREAS, Afghan women have been whipped, beaten, shot at, and, at
times, killed for not adhering to these restrictions; and
   WHEREAS, The Secretary of State of the United States, the United
Nations, and the Physicians for Human Rights have reported that the
Taliban's targeting of women and girls for discrimination and abuse
has created a health and humanitarian disaster; and
   WHEREAS, The International Red Cross and the United Nations
estimate that more than 500,000 people in the City of Kabul,
approximately two-thirds of the residents of that city, depend on
international aid to survive; and
   WHEREAS, Afghanistan recognizes international human rights
conventions such as the Covenant on the Rights of the Child, the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and
Cultural Rights, all of which espouse respect for basic human rights
of all individuals without regard to race, religion, ethnicity, or
gender; and
   WHEREAS, Denying women and girls the right to education,
employment, access to adequate health care, and direct access to
humanitarian aid runs counter to international human rights
conventions; and
   WHEREAS, Peace and security in Afghanistan can only be realized
with the full restoration of all human rights and fundamental
freedom, the voluntary repatriation of refugees to their homeland in
safety and dignity, and the reconstruction of Afghanistan; now,
therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Senate and Assembly of the State of California,
jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California urges the
President of the United States and Congress to take the necessary
action to ensure the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan are not
systematically violated, and urges a peaceful resolution to the
situation in Afghanistan that restores the human rights of Afghan
women and girls; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to each
Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the
United States, to the Secretary of State of the United States, to the
President of the United States, and to the Secretary General of the
United Nations.
